Animated expressive icon

ABSTRACT

Embodiments described herein include an expressive icon system to present an animated graphical icon, wherein the animated graphical icon is generated by capture facial tracking data at a client device. In some embodiments, the system may track and capture facial tracking data of a user via a camera associated with a client device (e.g., a front facing camera, or a paired camera), and process the facial tracking data to animate a graphical icon.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.17/376,457, filed Jul. 15, 2021, which application is a continuation ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/946,463, filed on Jun. 23, 2020, nowissued as U.S. Pat. No. 11,120,601, which is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 15/908,422, filed on Feb. 28, 2018, nowissued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,726,603, which are incorporated herein byreference in its entireties.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to mobilecomputing technology and, more particularly, but not by way oflimitation, to systems for presenting an animated expressive graphicalicon.

BACKGROUND

Research has shown that facial tracking and performance capturingtechnology have had significant impacts in a broad range of fields thatinclude computer gaming, animations, entertainment, human-computerinterface. For example, some of the research has shown that usersinteracting with a digital avatar, such as an animated face, are 30%more trustworthy than compared with the same interactions with text-onlyscripts.

Increased prevalence of mobile devices has resulted in “socialnetworking” to become an important part in the day-to-day activities ofmany people's lives. Today, hundreds of millions of people use theirvirtual identities to communicate and interact with other people overthe web, internet and the like via Social networking sites. In addition,these virtual identities are used to play games over the web, internetand the like.

While social networking provides the ability for contact between peopleany time of day or night, it is often difficult to ascertain exactly howpeople are feeling by looking at their virtual identity, or throughreading text messages alone.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

To easily identify the discussion of any particular element or act, themost significant digit or digits in a reference number refer to thefigure number in which that element is first introduced.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example messaging system forexchanging data (e.g., messages and associated content) over a networkin accordance with some embodiments, wherein the messaging systemincludes a chat presence system.

FIG. 2 is block diagram illustrating further details regarding amessaging system, according to example embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating various modules of an expressiveicon system, according to certain example embodiments.

FIG. 4 is a depiction of facial tracking data captured by and expressiveicon system, according to certain example embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram illustrating operations performed by anexpressive icon system, in receiving video data in real-time, trackingfacial landmarks from the video data, and generating and display ananimated expressive graphical icon based on the tracked faciallandmarks, according to certain example embodiments.

FIG. 6 depicts a method for presenting an expressive animated graphicalicon based on real-time facial tracking data, according to certainexample embodiments.

FIG. 7 is an interface diagram illustrating an interface to display anexpressive animated icon, according to certain example embodiments.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a representative softwarearchitecture, which may be used in conjunction with various hardwarearchitectures herein described and used to implement variousembodiments.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating components of a machine,according to some example embodiments, able to read instructions from amachine-readable medium (e.g., a machine-readable storage medium) andperform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments described herein relate to an expressive icon system(hereinafter referred to as the system) to present an animated graphicalicon, wherein the animated graphical icon is generated by capture facialtracking data at a client device. In some embodiments, the system maytrack and capture facial tracking data of a user via a camera associatedwith a client device (e.g., a front facing camera, or a paired camera),and process the facial tracking data to animate a graphical icon. Infurther embodiments, the system facilitates the distribution and sharingof the animated graphical icon, for example by attaching the animatedgraphical icon to a message to be distributed to a plurality of users,such that the animated graphical icon tracks the facial tracking data ofthe user in real-time, or by publishing the animated graphical icon at alocation accessible through a network (e.g., a user profile picture of auser).

In some example embodiments, the system captures facial tracking dataand audio data in real time at a first client device, and generates andpresents the audio and an animated graphical icon based on the real-timefacial tracking data, at a second client device. For example, a user ofthe first client device may request an initiation of a communicationsession with a user of a second client device. In response to receivingan authorization to initiate the communication session, the first clientdevice captures facial tracking data of the user via a camera associatedwith the client device (e.g., a front facing camera of a client device),and causes a presentation of an animated graphical icon in real-timebased on the facial tracking data at the second client device.

In some example embodiments, the system generates an expressive animatedicon at the first client device based on the facial tracking data,renders a flattened animation of the expressive animated icon at thefirst client device, and causes display of the flattened animation ofthe expressive animated icon to the second client device. In suchembodiments, the generation and rendering of the expressive animatedicon occurs separate from the recipient device (e.g., the second clientdevice), similar to a thin client.

In further embodiments, the system captures the facial tracking data ata first client device, in real-time, and transmits the real-time facialtracking data to a second client device, where the facial tracking datais transposed onto a graphical icon. In this way, the second clientdevice may generate and display an animated graphical icon based onreceived facial tracking data.

In some example embodiments, a user provides a selection of thegraphical icon to be animated by the system. For example, the system maydisplay a set of graphical icons at a client device, and receive aselection of the graphical icon from among the set of graphical icons.The system receives facial tracking data and transposes the facialtracking data upon the selected graphical icon in real-time.

A user may select and associate a graphical icon with a user profile,such that facial tracking data received from a device associated withthe user profile are transposed to the selected graphical icon. Infurther embodiments, a user may select or change the graphical icon inreal-time, and in response the system transposes the facial trackingdata to the selected graphical icon, and causes display of the selectedgraphical icon at the client device.

In some example embodiments, facial tracking is performed by the systemthrough the identification of various 2D and 3D facial landmarkscorrespond to semantic facial features of a human face, such as thecontour of eyes, lips and eyebrows, the tip of a nose, etc. The systemtransposes the tracked facial landmarks onto a graphical icon, resultingin an expressive icon that depicts the shape of the user's differentexpressions in real-time.

Consider an illustrative example from a user perspective. A first userof a first client device may initiate a communication session with asecond user of a second client device. In response to initiating thecommunication session between the first client device and the secondclient device, the first client device captures facial tracking datafrom the first user, via a front facing camera.

The system generates and causes display of a presentation of an animatedexpressive icon at the second client device, wherein the animatedexpressive icon is animated based on the facial tracking data capturedat the first client device, in real-time. In some embodiments, asdiscussed herein, the system may generate a flattened video of theanimated expressive icon based on the facial tracking data at the firstclient device, and transmit the flattened video of the animatedexpressive icon to the second client device, where it is presented tothe second user. In further embodiments, the system captures the facialtracking data at the first client device, transmits the facial trackingdata to the second client device in real-time, and the second clientdevice animates the animated expressive icon in real-time, based on thefacial tracking data captured at the first client device. In this way,users may communicate with one another via presentations of animatedexpressive icons.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example messaging system 100 forexchanging data (e.g., messages and associated content) over a network.The messaging system 100 includes multiple client devices 102, each ofwhich hosts a number of applications including a messaging clientapplication 104. Each messaging client application 104 iscommunicatively coupled to other instances of the messaging clientapplication 104 and a messaging server system 108 via a network 106(e.g., the Internet).

Accordingly, each messaging client application 104 is able tocommunicate and exchange data with another messaging client application104 and with the messaging server system 108 via the network 106. Thedata exchanged between messaging client applications 104, and between amessaging client application 104 and the messaging server system 108,includes functions (e.g., commands to invoke functions) as well aspayload data (e.g., text, audio, video or other multimedia data).

The messaging server system 108 provides server-side functionality viathe network 106 to a particular messaging client application 104. Whilecertain functions of the messaging system 100 are described herein asbeing performed by either a messaging client application 104 or by themessaging server system 108, it will be appreciated that the location ofcertain functionality either within the messaging client application 104or the messaging server system 108 is a design choice. For example, itmay be technically preferable to initially deploy certain technology andfunctionality within the messaging server system 108, but to latermigrate this technology and functionality to the messaging clientapplication 104 where a client device 102 has a sufficient processingcapacity.

The messaging server system 108 supports various services and operationsthat are provided to the messaging client application 104. Suchoperations include transmitting data to, receiving data from, andprocessing data generated by the messaging client application 104. Insome embodiments, this data includes, message content, client deviceinformation, geolocation information, media annotation and overlays,message content persistence conditions, social network information, andlive event information, as examples. In other embodiments, other data isused. Data exchanges within the messaging system 100 are invoked andcontrolled through functions available via GUIs of the messaging clientapplication 104.

Turning now specifically to the messaging server system 108, anApplication Program Interface (API) server 110 is coupled to, andprovides a programmatic interface to, an application server 112. Theapplication server 112 is communicatively coupled to a database server118, which facilitates access to a database 120 in which is stored dataassociated with messages processed by the application server 112.

Dealing specifically with the Application Program Interface (API) server110, this server receives and transmits message data (e.g., commands andmessage payloads) between the client device 102 and the applicationserver 112. Specifically, the Application Program Interface (API) server110 provides a set of interfaces (e.g., routines and protocols) that canbe called or queried by the messaging client application 104 in order toinvoke functionality of the application server 112. The ApplicationProgram Interface (API) server 110 exposes various functions supportedby the application server 112, including account registration, loginfunctionality, the sending of messages, via the application server 112,from a particular messaging client application 104 to another messagingclient application 104, the sending of media files (e.g., images orvideo) from a messaging client application 104 to the messaging serverapplication 114, and for possible access by another messaging clientapplication 104, the setting of a collection of media data (e.g.,story), the retrieval of a list of friends of a user of a client device102, the retrieval of such collections, the retrieval of messages andcontent, the adding and deletion of friends to a social graph, thelocation of friends within a social graph, opening and application event(e.g., relating to the messaging client application 104).

The application server 112 hosts a number of applications andsubsystems, including a messaging server application 114, an imageprocessing system 116, a social network system 122, and an expressiveicon system 124. The messaging server application 114 implements anumber of message processing technologies and functions, particularlyrelated to the aggregation and other processing of content (e.g.,textual and multimedia content) included in messages received frommultiple instances of the messaging client application 104. As will bedescribed in further detail, the text and media content from multiplesources may be aggregated into collections of content (e.g., calledstories or galleries). These collections are then made available, by themessaging server application 114, to the messaging client application104. Other processor and memory intensive processing of data may also beperformed server-side by the messaging server application 114, in viewof the hardware requirements for such processing.

The application server 112 also includes an image processing system 116that is dedicated to performing various image processing operations,typically with respect to images or video received within the payload ofa message at the messaging server application 114.

The social network system 122 supports various social networkingfunctions services, and makes these functions and services available tothe messaging server application 114. To this end, the social networksystem 122 maintains and accesses an entity graph 304 within thedatabase 120. Examples of functions and services supported by the socialnetwork system 122 include the identification of other users of themessaging system 100 with which a particular user has relationships oris “following,” and also the identification of other entities andinterests of a particular user.

The application server 112 is communicatively coupled to a databaseserver 118, which facilitates access to a database 120 in which isstored data associated with messages processed by the messaging serverapplication 114.

FIG. 2 is block diagram illustrating further details regarding themessaging system 100, according to example embodiments. Specifically,the messaging system 100 is shown to comprise the messaging clientapplication 104 and the application server 112, which in turn embody anumber of some subsystems, namely an ephemeral timer system 202, acollection management system 204 and an annotation system 206.

The ephemeral timer system 202 is responsible for enforcing thetemporary access to content permitted by the messaging clientapplication 104 and the messaging server application 114. To this end,the ephemeral timer system 202 incorporates a number of timers that,based on duration and display parameters associated with a message,collection of messages (e.g., a SNAPCHAT story), or graphical element,selectively display and enable access to messages and associated contentvia the messaging client application 104. Further details regarding theoperation of the ephemeral timer system 202 are provided below.

The collection management system 204 is responsible for managingcollections of media (e.g., collections of text, image video and audiodata). In some examples, a collection of content (e.g., messages,including images, video, text and audio) may be organized into an “eventgallery” or an “event story.” Such a collection may be made availablefor a specified time period, such as the duration of an event to whichthe content relates. For example, content relating to a music concertmay be made available as a “story” for the duration of that musicconcert. The collection management system 204 may also be responsiblefor publishing an icon that provides notification of the existence of aparticular collection to the user interface of the messaging clientapplication 104.

The collection management system 204 furthermore includes a curationinterface 208 that allows a collection manager to manage and curate aparticular collection of content. For example, the curation interface208 enables an event organizer to curate a collection of contentrelating to a specific event (e.g., delete inappropriate content orredundant messages). Additionally, the collection management system 204employs machine vision (or image recognition technology) and contentrules to automatically curate a content collection. In certainembodiments, compensation may be paid to a user for inclusion of usergenerated content into a collection. In such cases, the curationinterface 208 operates to automatically make payments to such users forthe use of their content.

The annotation system 206 provides various functions that enable a userto annotate or otherwise modify or edit media content associated with amessage. For example, the annotation system 206 provides functionsrelated to the generation and publishing of media overlays for messagesprocessed by the messaging system 100. The annotation system 206operatively supplies a media overlay (e.g., a SNAPCHAT filter) to themessaging client application 104 based on a geolocation of the clientdevice 102. In another example, the annotation system 206 operativelysupplies a media overlay to the messaging client application 104 basedon other information, such as, social network information of the user ofthe client device 102. A media overlay may include audio and visualcontent and visual effects. Examples of audio and visual content includepictures, texts, logos, animations, and sound effects, as well asanimated facial models, such as those generated by the expressive iconsystem 124. An example of a visual effect includes color overlaying. Theaudio and visual content or the visual effects can be applied to a mediacontent item (e.g., a photo) at the client device 102. For example, themedia overlay including text that can be overlaid on top of a photographgenerated taken by the client device 102. In another example, the mediaoverlay includes an identification of a location overlay (e.g., Venicebeach), a name of a live event, or a name of a merchant overlay (e.g.,Beach Coffee House). In another example, the annotation system 206 usesthe geolocation of the client device 102 to identify a media overlaythat includes the name of a merchant at the geolocation of the clientdevice 102. The media overlay may include other indicia associated withthe merchant. The media overlays may be stored in the database 120 andaccessed through the database server 118.

In one example embodiment, the annotation system 206 provides auser-based publication platform that enables users to select ageolocation on a map, and upload content associated with the selectedgeolocation. The user may also specify circumstances under which aparticular media overlay should be offered to other users. Theannotation system 206 generates a media overlay that includes theuploaded content and associates the uploaded content with the selectedgeolocation.

In another example embodiment, the annotation system 206 provides amerchant-based publication platform that enables merchants to select aparticular media overlay associated with a geolocation via a biddingprocess. For example, the annotation system 206 associates the mediaoverlay of a highest bidding merchant with a corresponding geolocationfor a predefined amount of time

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating components of the expressive iconsystem 124 that configure the expressive icon system 124 to capturefacial tracking data, assign the facial tracking data to a graphicalicon (e.g., a bitmoji, an animated expressive icon), and present thegraphical icon based on the facial tracking data, according to someexample embodiments. The expressive icon system 124 is shown asincluding a facial tracking module 302, a graphical icon module 304, acommunication module 306, and presentation module 308, all configured tocommunicate with each other (e.g., via a bus, shared memory, or aswitch). Any one or more of these modules may be implemented using oneor more processors 310 (e.g., by configuring such one or more processorsto perform functions described for that module) and hence may includeone or more of the processors 310.

Any one or more of the modules described may be implemented usinghardware alone (e.g., one or more of the processors 310 of a machine) ora combination of hardware and software. For example, any moduledescribed of the expressive icon system 124 may physically include anarrangement of one or more of the processors 310 (e.g., a subset of oramong the one or more processors of the machine) configured to performthe operations described herein for that module. As another example, anymodule of the expressive icon system 124 may include software, hardware,or both, that configure an arrangement of one or more processors 310(e.g., among the one or more processors of the machine) to perform theoperations described herein for that module. Accordingly, differentmodules of the expressive icon system 124 may include and configuredifferent arrangements of such processors 310 or a single arrangement ofsuch processors 310 at different points in time. Moreover, any two ormore modules of the expressive icon system 124 may be combined into asingle module, and the functions described herein for a single modulemay be subdivided among multiple modules. Furthermore, according tovarious example embodiments, modules described herein as beingimplemented within a single machine, database, or device may bedistributed across multiple machines, databases, or devices.

FIG. 4 is a depiction of facial tracking data captured by the facialtracking module 302 of the expressive icon system 124, according tocertain example embodiments. In some example embodiments, as seen inFIG. 4 , the tracked facial landmarks 404 and 408 comprises a set ofpoints, wherein each point corresponds to a facial landmark identifiedby the expressive icon system 124, based on image or video data (e.g.,image or video data 402, 406).

In some embodiments, the expressive icon system 124 receives video data404 and 406 in real-time via front facing camera of a client device 102,and tracks the facial tracking data that includes facial landmarks 404and 408, wherein the facial landmarks 502 and 508 correspond to thesemantic facial features of a human face, such as the contour of eyes,lips, nose, and eyebrows.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram 500 illustrating operations performed by theexpressive icon system 124, in receiving video data in real-time,tracking facial landmarks from the video data, and generating anddisplay an animated expressive graphical icon based on the trackedfacial landmarks, according to certain example embodiments.

At operation 502, the facial tracking module 302 receives image or videodata that includes a depiction of a face. For example, the facialtracking module 302 may access a front facing camera of a client device102, and capture video data depicting a user of the client device 102.

At operation 504, the facial tracking module 302 captures facialtracking data in real-time, wherein the facial tracking data includes aset of points that identify facial landmarks, as described in FIG. 4 .

At operation 506, the graphical icon module 306 generates and causesdisplay of an expressive animated icon based on the facial trackingdata, in real-time. The animated graphical icon therefore depicts areal-time expression of the user, based on the real-time facial trackingdata collected by the facial tracking module 302.

FIG. 6 depicts a method 600 for presenting an expressive animatedgraphical icon based on real-time facial tracking data, according tocertain example embodiments. Operations of the method 600 may beperformed by the modules described above with respect to FIG. 3 . Asshown in FIG. 6 , the method 600 includes one or more operations 602,604, 606, and 608.

At operation 602, the facial tracking module 302 captures facialtracking data (e.g., real-time facial tracking data 504 of FIG. 5 ,facial tracking data 404 of FIG. 4 ) at a first client device (e.g.,client device 102A of FIG. 1 ). For example, the client device 102A mayinclude a front facing camera. In response to receiving an initiation ofa communication session between a first user of the first client device102A, and a second user of a second client device 102B, the facialtracking module 302 activates a front facing camera of the client device102A, to capture real-time video data that includes video and imagesdepicting the first user. The facial tracking module 302 extracts thefacial tracking data from the videos or images by performing one or morefacial landmark identification methods. For example, the facial trackingmodule 302 captures facial tracking data by identifying one or morefacial landmarks of the first user in the video data received throughthe front facing camera, as seen in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 .

At operation 604, the graphical icon module 304 assigns the facialtracking data to a graphical icon. In some embodiments, the first usermay select or define a graphical icon to transpose the facial trackingdata upon, within a user profile associated with the first user. Thefirst user may predefine selections of graphical icons based on one ormore context conditions, such that the graphical icon module 304 selectsan appropriate graphical icon based on the detection of certain contextconditions. The context conditions may include a location, an identityof a recipient of the graphical icon, a time of day, a current season,identification of a holiday or event.

In some example embodiments, the graphical icon module 304 may select agraphical icon from among a set of graphical icons based on adestination of the graphical icon. For example, the graphical iconmodule 304 may retrieve user profile information of a user (e.g., thesecond user) associated with the second client device 102B, in responseto the initiation of the communication session. The first user maypredefine a specific graphical icon (e.g., a bitmoji) to be used incommunication sessions with the second user. The graphical icon module304 may select the graphical icon based on an identifier associated withthe second user (e.g., phone number, user identifier, facial trackingdata of the second user).

In some example embodiments, the graphical icon module 304 may select agraphical icon from among a set of graphical icons based on a currentlocation of the first client device. For example, the graphical iconmodule 304 may retrieve location data that identified a current locationof the first client device 102A or 102B, in response to the initiationof the communication session. An administrator or the first user maypredefine a specific graphical icon (e.g., a bitmoji) to be used incommunication sessions wherein one or more client devices associatedwith the communication session are located at a predefined location, orwithin a geo-fenced area. The graphical icon module 304 may select thegraphical icon based on an identifier associated with a location of thefirst client device 102 or the second client device 102B (e.g., GPScoordinates, presence within a geo-fence).

In some example embodiments, the graphical icon module 304 may select agraphical icon from among a set of graphical icons based on a currenttemporal period (e.g., time, day, season) of the communication session.For example, the graphical icon module 304 may receive an identificationof a temporal period, in response to the initiation of the communicationsession. An administrator or the first user may predefine one or moregraphical icons for specific temporal periods (e.g., time, date,national holiday, birthday, local holiday, local event/concert, spring,winter). The graphical icon module 304 may select the graphical iconbased on the identification of the current temporal period.

In further embodiments, the graphical icon may selected or changed basedon an input from the first user or the second user. For example, thefirst user or the second user may select the graphical icon from among aset of graphical icons, and in response, the graphical icon module 304transposes the facial tracking data to the selected graphical icon.

At operation 606, the communication module 306 delivers the graphicalicon to the second client device 102B, from the first client device102A. In some embodiments, the communication module 306 may deliver amessage that contains an identification of the graphical icon, and thefacial tracking data to the second client device 102B. The second clientdevice 102B generates an expressive animated icon based on the trackingdata and the selection of the graphical icon, and displays theexpressive animated icon at the second client device 102B at operation608.

In further embodiments, the graphical icon module 304 generates areal-time video at the first client device 102A, based on the facialtracking data and the selection of the graphical icon. The communicationmodule 306 may flatten the real-time video at the first client device102A, and deliver the flattened video to the second client device 102B.At operation 608, the communication module present the flattened videoat the second client device 102B.

FIG. 7 is an interface diagram illustrating an interface 700 to displayan expressive animated icon 702, according to certain exampleembodiments. As seen in FIG. 7 , the interface 700 may display a message704 of a communication session (e.g., between a first client device 102Aand a second client device 102B). In some embodiments, the animatedexpressive icon 702 may be displayed within a portion of the interface700, and in conjunction with a message (e.g., the message 704) of acommunication session. In further embodiments, the message 704 mayinclude an ephemeral message, as discussed and illustrated above inFIGS. 2 and 3 .

As discussed herein, the expressive animated icon 704 may emote inreal-time, based on facial tracking data collected by the expressiveicon system 124. In further embodiments, the expressive animated icon704 may be created by a user (e.g., the first user), and assigned to ahome page or user profile page associated with the user, such thataccessing and displaying the home page or user profile page causes theexpressive icon system 124 to retrieve a sequence of facial trackingdata, and transpose the sequence of facial tracking data onto agraphical icon to be presented at a client device. For example, theexpressive animated icon 704 may be used as an avatar associated withthe user, wherein the avatar is animated based on the sequence of facialtracking data.

Software Architecture

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating an example software architecture806, which may be used in conjunction with various hardwarearchitectures herein described. FIG. 8 is a non-limiting example of asoftware architecture and it will be appreciated that many otherarchitectures may be implemented to facilitate the functionalitydescribed herein. The software architecture 806 may execute on hardwaresuch as machine 900 of FIG. 9 that includes, among other things,processors 904, memory 914, and I/O components 918. A representativehardware layer 852 is illustrated and can represent, for example, themachine 800 of FIG. 8 . The representative hardware layer 852 includes aprocessing unit 854 having associated executable instructions 804.Executable instructions 804 represent the executable instructions of thesoftware architecture 806, including implementation of the methods,components and so forth described herein. The hardware layer 852 alsoincludes memory and/or storage modules memory/storage 856, which alsohave executable instructions 804. The hardware layer 852 may alsocomprise other hardware 858.

In the example architecture of FIG. 8 , the software architecture 806may be conceptualized as a stack of layers where each layer providesparticular functionality. For example, the software architecture 806 mayinclude layers such as an operating system 802, libraries 820,applications 816 and a presentation layer 814. Operationally, theapplications 816 and/or other components within the layers may invokeapplication programming interface (API) API calls 808 through thesoftware stack and receive a response as in response to the API calls808. The layers illustrated are representative in nature and not allsoftware architectures have all layers. For example, some mobile orspecial purpose operating systems may not provide aframeworks/middleware 818, while others may provide such a layer. Othersoftware architectures may include additional or different layers. Theapplications 816 may include applications related to and including theexpressive icon system 124.

The operating system 802 may manage hardware resources and providecommon services. The operating system 802 may include, for example, akernel 822, services 824 and drivers 826. The kernel 822 may act as anabstraction layer between the hardware and the other software layers.For example, the kernel 822 may be responsible for memory management,processor management (e.g., scheduling), component management,networking, security settings, and so on. The services 824 may provideother common services for the other software layers. The drivers 826 areresponsible for controlling or interfacing with the underlying hardware.For instance, the drivers 826 include display drivers, camera drivers,Bluetooth® drivers, flash memory drivers, serial communication drivers(e.g., Universal Serial Bus (USB) drivers), Wi-Fi® drivers, audiodrivers, power management drivers, and so forth depending on thehardware configuration.

The libraries 820 provide a common infrastructure that is used by theapplications 816 and/or other components and/or layers. The libraries820 provide functionality that allows other software components toperform tasks in an easier fashion than to interface directly with theunderlying operating system 802 functionality (e.g., kernel 822,services 824 and/or drivers 826). The libraries 820 may include systemlibraries 844 (e.g., C standard library) that may provide functions suchas memory allocation functions, string manipulation functions,mathematical functions, and the like. In addition, the libraries 820 mayinclude API libraries 846 such as media libraries (e.g., libraries tosupport presentation and manipulation of various media format such asMPREG4, H.264, MP3, AAC, AMR, JPG, PNG), graphics libraries (e.g., anOpenGL framework that may be used to render 2D and 3D in a graphiccontent on a display), database libraries (e.g., SQLite that may providevarious relational database functions), web libraries (e.g., WebKit thatmay provide web browsing functionality), and the like. The libraries 820may also include a wide variety of other libraries 848 to provide manyother APIs to the applications 816 and other softwarecomponents/modules.

The frameworks/middleware 818 (also sometimes referred to as middleware)provide a higher-level common infrastructure that may be used by theapplications 816 and/or other software components/modules. For example,the frameworks/middleware 818 may provide various graphic user interface(GUI) functions, high-level resource management, high-level locationservices, and so forth. The frameworks/middleware 818 may provide abroad spectrum of other APIs that may be utilized by the applications816 and/or other software components/modules, some of which may bespecific to a particular operating system 802 or platform.

The applications 816 include built-in applications 838 and/orthird-party applications 840. Examples of representative built-inapplications 838 may include, but are not limited to, a contactsapplication, a browser application, a book reader application, alocation application, a media application, a messaging application,and/or a game application. Third-party applications 840 may include anapplication developed using the ANDROID™ or IOS™ software developmentkit (SDK) by an entity other than the vendor of the particular platform,and may be mobile software running on a mobile operating system such asIOS™, ANDROID™, WINDOWS® Phone, or other mobile operating systems. Thethird-party applications 840 may invoke the API calls 808 provided bythe mobile operating system (such as operating system 802) to facilitatefunctionality described herein.

The applications 816 may use built in operating system functions (e.g.,kernel 822, services 824 and/or drivers 826), libraries 820, andframeworks/middleware 818 to create user interfaces to interact withusers of the system. Alternatively, or additionally, in some systemsinteractions with a user may occur through a presentation layer, such aspresentation layer 814. In these systems, the application/component“logic” can be separated from the aspects of the application/componentthat interact with a user.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating components of a machine 900,according to some example embodiments, able to read instructions from amachine-readable medium (e.g., a machine-readable storage medium) andperform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.Specifically, FIG. 9 shows a diagrammatic representation of the machine900 in the example form of a computer system, within which instructions910 (e.g., software, a program, an application, an applet, an app, orother executable code) for causing the machine 900 to perform any one ormore of the methodologies discussed herein may be executed. As such, theinstructions 910 may be used to implement modules or componentsdescribed herein. The instructions 910 transform the general,non-programmed machine 900 into a particular machine 900 programmed tocarry out the described and illustrated functions in the mannerdescribed. In alternative embodiments, the machine 900 operates as astandalone device or may be coupled (e.g., networked) to other machines.In a networked deployment, the machine 900 may operate in the capacityof a server machine or a client machine in a server-client networkenvironment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed)network environment. The machine 900 may comprise, but not be limitedto, a server computer, a client computer, a personal computer (PC), atablet computer, a laptop computer, a netbook, a set-top box (STB), apersonal digital assistant (PDA), an entertainment media system, acellular telephone, a smart phone, a mobile device, a wearable device(e.g., a smart watch), a smart home device (e.g., a smart appliance),other smart devices, a web appliance, a network router, a networkswitch, a network bridge, or any machine capable of executing theinstructions 910, sequentially or otherwise, that specify actions to betaken by machine 900. Further, while only a single machine 900 isillustrated, the term “machine” shall also be taken to include acollection of machines that individually or jointly execute theinstructions 910 to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein.

The machine 900 may include processors 904, memory memory/storage 906,and I/O components 918, which may be configured to communicate with eachother such as via a bus 902. The memory/storage 906 may include a memory914, such as a main memory, or other memory storage, and a storage unit916, both accessible to the processors 904 such as via the bus 902. Thestorage unit 916 and memory 914 store the instructions 910 embodying anyone or more of the methodologies or functions described herein. Theinstructions 910 may also reside, completely or partially, within thememory 914, within the storage unit 916, within at least one of theprocessors 904 (e.g., within the processor's cache memory), or anysuitable combination thereof, during execution thereof by the machine900. Accordingly, the memory 914, the storage unit 916, and the memoryof processors 904 are examples of machine-readable media.

The I/O components 918 may include a wide variety of components toreceive input, provide output, produce output, transmit information,exchange information, capture measurements, and so on. The specific I/Ocomponents 918 that are included in a particular machine 900 will dependon the type of machine. For example, portable machines such as mobilephones will likely include a touch input device or other such inputmechanisms, while a headless server machine will likely not include sucha touch input device. It will be appreciated that the I/O components 918may include many other components that are not shown in FIG. 9 . The I/Ocomponents 918 are grouped according to functionality merely forsimplifying the following discussion and the grouping is in no waylimiting. In various example embodiments, the I/O components 918 mayinclude output components 926 and input components 928. The outputcomponents 926 may include visual components (e.g., a display such as aplasma display panel (PDP), a light emitting diode (LED) display, aliquid crystal display (LCD), a projector, or a cathode ray tube (CRT)),acoustic components (e.g., speakers), haptic components (e.g., avibratory motor, resistance mechanisms), other signal generators, and soforth. The input components 928 may include alphanumeric inputcomponents (e.g., a keyboard, a touch screen configured to receivealphanumeric input, a photo-optical keyboard, or other alphanumericinput components), point based input components (e.g., a mouse, atouchpad, a trackball, a joystick, a motion sensor, or other pointinginstrument), tactile input components (e.g., a physical button, a touchscreen that provides location and/or force of touches or touch gestures,or other tactile input components), audio input components (e.g., amicrophone), and the like.

In further example embodiments, the I/O components 918 may includebiometric components 930, motion components 934, environmentalenvironment components 936, or position components 938 among a widearray of other components. For example, the biometric components 930 mayinclude components to detect expressions (e.g., hand expressions, facialexpressions, vocal expressions, body gestures, or eye tracking), measurebiosignals (e.g., blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature,perspiration, or brain waves), identify a person (e.g., voiceidentification, retinal identification, facial identification,fingerprint identification, or electroencephalogram basedidentification), and the like. The motion components 934 may includeacceleration sensor components (e.g., accelerometer), gravitation sensorcomponents, rotation sensor components (e.g., gyroscope), and so forth.The environment components 936 may include, for example, illuminationsensor components (e.g., photometer), temperature sensor components(e.g., one or more thermometer that detect ambient temperature),humidity sensor components, pressure sensor components (e.g.,barometer), acoustic sensor components (e.g., one or more microphonesthat detect background noise), proximity sensor components (e.g.,infrared sensors that detect nearby objects), gas sensors (e.g., gasdetection sensors to detection concentrations of hazardous gases forsafety or to measure pollutants in the atmosphere), or other componentsthat may provide indications, measurements, or signals corresponding toa surrounding physical environment. The position components 938 mayinclude location sensor components (e.g., a Global Position system (GPS)receiver component), altitude sensor components (e.g., altimeters orbarometers that detect air pressure from which altitude may be derived),orientation sensor components (e.g., magnetometers), and the like.

Communication may be implemented using a wide variety of technologies.The I/O components 918 may include communication components 940 operableto couple the machine 900 to a network 932 or devices 920 via coupling922 and coupling 924 respectively. For example, the communicationcomponents 940 may include a network interface component or othersuitable device to interface with the network 932. In further examples,communication components 940 may include wired communication components,wireless communication components, cellular communication components,Near Field Communication (NFC) components, Bluetooth® components (e.g.,Bluetooth® Low Energy), Wi-Fi® components, and other communicationcomponents to provide communication via other modalities. The devices920 may be another machine or any of a wide variety of peripheraldevices (e.g., a peripheral device coupled via a Universal Serial Bus(USB)).

Moreover, the communication components 940 may detect identifiers orinclude components operable to detect identifiers. For example, thecommunication components 940 may include Radio Frequency Identification(RFID) tag reader components, NFC smart tag detection components,optical reader components (e.g., an optical sensor to detectone-dimensional bar codes such as Universal Product Code (UPC) bar code,multi-dimensional bar codes such as Quick Response (QR) code, Azteccode, Data Matrix, Dataglyph, MaxiCode, PDF417, Ultra Code, UCC RSS-2Dbar code, and other optical codes), or acoustic detection components(e.g., microphones to identify tagged audio signals). In addition, avariety of information may be derived via the communication components940, such as, location via Internet Protocol (IP) geo-location, locationvia Wi-Fi® signal triangulation, location via detecting a NFC beaconsignal that may indicate a particular location, and so forth.

GLOSSARY

“CARRIER SIGNAL” in this context refers to any intangible medium that iscapable of storing, encoding, or carrying instructions for execution bythe machine, and includes digital or analog communications signals orother intangible medium to facilitate communication of suchinstructions. Instructions may be transmitted or received over thenetwork using a transmission medium via a network interface device andusing any one of a number of well-known transfer protocols.

“CLIENT DEVICE” in this context refers to any machine that interfaces toa communications network to obtain resources from one or more serversystems or other client devices. A client device may be, but is notlimited to, a mobile phone, desktop computer, laptop, portable digitalassistants (PDAs), smart phones, tablets, ultra books, netbooks,laptops, multi-processor systems, microprocessor-based or programmableconsumer electronics, game consoles, set-top boxes, or any othercommunication device that a user may use to access a network.

“COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK” in this context refers to one or more portionsof a network that may be an ad hoc network, an intranet, an extranet, avirtual private network (VPN), a local area network (LAN), a wirelessLAN (WLAN), a wide area network (WAN), a wireless WAN (WWAN), ametropolitan area network (MAN), the Internet, a portion of theInternet, a portion of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN), aplain old telephone service (POTS) network, a cellular telephonenetwork, a wireless network, a Wi-Fi® network, another type of network,or a combination of two or more such networks. For example, a network ora portion of a network may include a wireless or cellular network andthe coupling may be a Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) connection, aGlobal System for Mobile communications (GSM) connection, or other typeof cellular or wireless coupling. In this example, the coupling mayimplement any of a variety of types of data transfer technology, such asSingle Carrier Radio Transmission Technology (1×RTT), Evolution-DataOptimized (EVDO) technology, General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)technology, Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) technology,third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) including 3G, fourthgeneration wireless (4G) networks, Universal Mobile TelecommunicationsSystem (UMTS), High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), WorldwideInteroperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), Long Term Evolution (LTE)standard, others defined by various standard setting organizations,other long range protocols, or other data transfer technology.

“EMPHEMERAL MESSAGE” in this context refers to a message that isaccessible for a time-limited duration. An ephemeral message may be atext, an image, a video and the like. The access time for the ephemeralmessage may be set by the message sender. Alternatively, the access timemay be a default setting or a setting specified by the recipient.Regardless of the setting technique, the message is transitory.

“MACHINE-READABLE MEDIUM” in this context refers to a component, deviceor other tangible media able to store instructions and data temporarilyor permanently and may include, but is not be limited to, random-accessmemory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), buffer memory, flash memory,optical media, magnetic media, cache memory, other types of storage(e.g., Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM)) and/or anysuitable combination thereof. The term “machine-readable medium” shouldbe taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., acentralized or distributed database, or associated caches and servers)able to store instructions. The term “machine-readable medium” shallalso be taken to include any medium, or combination of multiple media,that is capable of storing instructions (e.g., code) for execution by amachine, such that the instructions, when executed by one or moreprocessors of the machine, cause the machine to perform any one or moreof the methodologies described herein. Accordingly, a “machine-readablemedium” refers to a single storage apparatus or device, as well as“cloud-based” storage systems or storage networks that include multiplestorage apparatus or devices. The term “machine-readable medium”excludes signals per se.

“COMPONENT” in this context refers to a device, physical entity or logichaving boundaries defined by function or subroutine calls, branchpoints, application program interfaces (APIs), or other technologiesthat provide for the partitioning or modularization of particularprocessing or control functions. Components may be combined via theirinterfaces with other components to carry out a machine process. Acomponent may be a packaged functional hardware unit designed for usewith other components and a part of a program that usually performs aparticular function of related functions. Components may constituteeither software components (e.g., code embodied on a machine-readablemedium) or hardware components. A “hardware component” is a tangibleunit capable of performing certain operations and may be configured orarranged in a certain physical manner. In various example embodiments,one or more computer systems (e.g., a standalone computer system, aclient computer system, or a server computer system) or one or morehardware components of a computer system (e.g., a processor or a groupof processors) may be configured by software (e.g., an application orapplication portion) as a hardware component that operates to performcertain operations as described herein. A hardware component may also beimplemented mechanically, electronically, or any suitable combinationthereof. For example, a hardware component may include dedicatedcircuitry or logic that is permanently configured to perform certainoperations. A hardware component may be a special-purpose processor,such as a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) or an ApplicationSpecific Integrated Circuit (ASIC). A hardware component may alsoinclude programmable logic or circuitry that is temporarily configuredby software to perform certain operations. For example, a hardwarecomponent may include software executed by a general-purpose processoror other programmable processor. Once configured by such software,hardware components become specific machines (or specific components ofa machine) uniquely tailored to perform the configured functions and areno longer general-purpose processors. It will be appreciated that thedecision to implement a hardware component mechanically, in dedicatedand permanently configured circuitry, or in temporarily configuredcircuitry (e.g., configured by software) may be driven by cost and timeconsiderations. Accordingly, the phrase “hardware component” (or“hardware-implemented component”) should be understood to encompass atangible entity, be that an entity that is physically constructed,permanently configured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarily configured(e.g., programmed) to operate in a certain manner or to perform certainoperations described herein. Considering embodiments in which hardwarecomponents are temporarily configured (e.g., programmed), each of thehardware components need not be configured or instantiated at any oneinstance in time. For example, where a hardware component comprises ageneral-purpose processor configured by software to become aspecial-purpose processor, the general-purpose processor may beconfigured as respectively different special-purpose processors (e.g.,comprising different hardware components) at different times. Softwareaccordingly configures a particular processor or processors, forexample, to constitute a particular hardware component at one instanceof time and to constitute a different hardware component at a differentinstance of time. Hardware components can provide information to, andreceive information from, other hardware components. Accordingly, thedescribed hardware components may be regarded as being communicativelycoupled. Where multiple hardware components exist contemporaneously,communications may be achieved through signal transmission (e.g., overappropriate circuits and buses) between or among two or more of thehardware components. In embodiments in which multiple hardwarecomponents are configured or instantiated at different times,communications between such hardware components may be achieved, forexample, through the storage and retrieval of information in memorystructures to which the multiple hardware components have access. Forexample, one hardware component may perform an operation and store theoutput of that operation in a memory device to which it iscommunicatively coupled. A further hardware component may then, at alater time, access the memory device to retrieve and process the storedoutput. Hardware components may also initiate communications with inputor output devices, and can operate on a resource (e.g., a collection ofinformation). The various operations of example methods described hereinmay be performed, at least partially, by one or more processors that aretemporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configured toperform the relevant operations. Whether temporarily or permanentlyconfigured, such processors may constitute processor-implementedcomponents that operate to perform one or more operations or functionsdescribed herein. As used herein, “processor-implemented component”refers to a hardware component implemented using one or more processors.Similarly, the methods described herein may be at least partiallyprocessor-implemented, with a particular processor or processors beingan example of hardware. For example, at least some of the operations ofa method may be performed by one or more processors orprocessor-implemented components. Moreover, the one or more processorsmay also operate to support performance of the relevant operations in a“cloud computing” environment or as a “software as a service” (SaaS).For example, at least some of the operations may be performed by a groupof computers (as examples of machines including processors), with theseoperations being accessible via a network (e.g., the Internet) and viaone or more appropriate interfaces (e.g., an Application ProgramInterface (API)). The performance of certain of the operations may bedistributed among the processors, not only residing within a singlemachine, but deployed across a number of machines. In some exampleembodiments, the processors or processor-implemented components may belocated in a single geographic location (e.g., within a homeenvironment, an office environment, or a server farm). In other exampleembodiments, the processors or processor-implemented components may bedistributed across a number of geographic locations.

“PROCESSOR” in this context refers to any circuit or virtual circuit (aphysical circuit emulated by logic executing on an actual processor)that manipulates data values according to control signals (e.g.,“commands”, “op codes”, “machine code”, etc.) and which producescorresponding output signals that are applied to operate a machine. Aprocessor may, for example, be a Central Processing Unit (CPU), aReduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) processor, a ComplexInstruction Set Computing (CISC) processor, a Graphics Processing Unit(GPU), a Digital Signal Processor (DSP), an Application SpecificIntegrated Circuit (ASIC), a Radio-Frequency Integrated Circuit (RFIC)or any combination thereof. A processor may further be a multi-coreprocessor having two or more independent processors (sometimes referredto as “cores”) that may execute instructions contemporaneously.

“TIMESTAMP” in this context refers to a sequence of characters orencoded information identifying when a certain event occurred, forexample giving date and time of day, sometimes accurate to a smallfraction of a second.

“LIFT” in this context is a measure of the performance of a targetedmodel at predicting or classifying cases as having an enhanced response(with respect to a population as a whole), measured against a randomchoice targeting model.

“PHONEME ALIGNMENT” in this context, a phoneme is a unit of speech thatdifferentiates one word from another. One phoneme may consist of asequence of closure, burst, and aspiration events; or, a dipthong maytransition from a back vowel to a front vowel. A speech signal maytherefore be described not only by what phonemes it contains, but alsothe locations of the phonemes. Phoneme alignment may therefore bedescribed as a “time-alignment” of phonemes in a waveform, in order todetermine an appropriate sequence and location of each phoneme in aspeech signal.

“AUDIO-TO-VISUAL CONVERSION” in this context refers to the conversion ofaudible speech signals into visible speech, wherein the visible speechmay include a mouth shape representative of the audible speech signal.

“TIME DELAYED NEURAL NETWORK (TDNN)” in this context, a TDNN is anartificial neural network architecture whose primary purpose is to workon sequential data. An example would be converting continuous audio intoa stream of classified phoneme labels for speech recognition.

“BI-DIRECTIONAL LONG-SHORT TERM MEMORY (BLSTM)” in this context refersto a recurrent neural network (RNN) architecture that remembers valuesover arbitrary intervals. Stored values are not modified as learningproceeds. RNNs allow forward and backward connections between neurons.BLSTM are well-suited for the classification, processing, and predictionof time series, given time lags of unknown size and duration betweenevents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: receiving, from a clientdevice, a request to initiate a communication session with a userassociated with a user account; initiating the communication sessionwith the user associated with the user account at the client device;associating, at the client device, a graphical icon with the useraccount; causing display of a presentation of the graphical icon at theclient device responsive to the initiating the communication sessionwith the user associated with the user account; receiving facialtracking data associated with the user of the user account; andanimating the presentation of the graphical icon at the client devicebased on the facial tracking data.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein thereceiving the facial tracking data further comprises: receiving imagedata that comprises a depiction of a set of facial landmarks; generatinga set of points based on positions of the set of facial landmarks, eachpoint among the set of points corresponding to a facial landmark fromamong the set of facial landmarks; and generating the facial trackingdata based on the set of points.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein thecausing display of the presentation of the graphical icon furthercomprises: associating the graphical icon to one or more contextualfactors; and selecting the graphical icon based on the one or morecontextual factors.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein the contextualfactors include one or more of: attributes of the client device;location data; and a time of day.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein theanimating the presentation of the graphical icon based on the facialtracking data comprises: transposing the facial tracking data upon thegraphical icon.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein the method furthercomprises: generating a message that includes the presentation of thegraphical icon.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the message includesan ephemeral message.
 8. A system comprising: a memory; and at least onehardware processor coupled to the memory and comprising instructionsthat causes the system to perform operations comprising: receiving, froma client device, a request to initiate a communication session with auser associated with a user account; initiating the communicationsession with the user associated with the user account at the clientdevice; associating, at the client device, a graphical icon with theuser account; causing display of a presentation of the graphical icon atthe client device responsive to the initiating the communication sessionwith the user associated with the user account; receiving facialtracking data associated with the user of the user account; andanimating the presentation of the graphical icon at the client devicebased on the facial tracking data.
 9. The system of claim 8, wherein thereceiving the facial tracking data further comprises: receiving imagedata that comprises a depiction of a set of facial landmarks; generatinga set of points based on positions of the set of facial landmarks, eachpoint among the set of points corresponding to a facial landmark fromamong the set of facial landmarks; and generating the facial trackingdata based on the set of points.
 10. The system of claim 8, wherein thecausing display of the presentation of the graphical icon furthercomprises: associating the graphical icon to one or more contextualfactors; and selecting the graphical icon based on the one or morecontextual factors.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein the contextualfactors include one or more of: attributes of the client device;location data; and a time of day.
 12. The system of claim 8, wherein theanimating the presentation of the graphical icon based on the facialtracking data comprises: transposing the facial tracking data upon thegraphical icon.
 13. The system of claim 8, further comprising:generating a message that includes the presentation of the graphicalicon.
 14. The system of claim 13, wherein the message includes anephemeral message.
 15. A non-transitory machine-readable storage mediumcomprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors ofa machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:receiving, from a client device, a request to initiate a communicationsession with a user associated with a user account; initiating thecommunication session with the user associated with the user account atthe client device; associating, at the client device, a graphical iconwith the user account; causing display of a presentation of thegraphical icon at the client device responsive to the initiating thecommunication session with the user associated with the user account;receiving facial tracking data associated with the user of the useraccount; and animating the presentation of the graphical icon at theclient device based on the facial tracking data.
 16. The non-transitorymachine-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the receiving thefacial tracking data further comprises: receiving image data thatcomprises a depiction of a set of facial landmarks; generating a set ofpoints based on positions of the set of facial landmarks, each pointamong the set of points corresponding to a facial landmark from amongthe set of facial landmarks; and generating the facial tracking databased on the set of points.
 17. The non-transitory machine-readablestorage medium of claim 15, wherein the causing display of thepresentation of the graphical icon further comprises: associating thegraphical icon to one or more contextual factors; and selecting thegraphical icon based on the one or more contextual factors.